Losing Composure
by Sephoriya
Summary: WARNING : SasuNaru YAOI! - How can one person make him lose whatever sense of composure he had? That carefully built mask that he wore could be cracked so easily by one person...How could Naruto have such a strong effect on him?
1. Chapter 1

Sasuke stood at the gate to Konoha village, watching the medical ninja depart with extreme haste. _Medical ninja? They haven't been sent out in days...wonder what's going on?_ As the thoughts and the questions ran through his mind, he noticed that two of the medical nins had stayed behind and were quickly proceeding to care for a figure that had long since collapsed on the ground. _Wait...was that Neji?_

Sasuke ran over to the collapsed and breathless Hyuuga, desperate to know what had happened. Neji had been on a mission with Naruto and Kakashi, but neither of the men were to been seen with him. _Oh God, if something happened to Naruto..._

"Neji! Neji what the hell happened to you?"

"Sasuke! Please move, Neji needs to be taken to Lady Tsunade at once!" Oh great. Sakura was here already.

"Damnit Sakura! Naruto and Kakashi were with him! Don't you give a shit as to why he is the only one who came back?"

"Well...yes but..."

"Oh back off for a minute! Asking him is the fastest was to find out what happened and if they're in trouble, and if they are they're going to need help fast! So why don't you shut up for a minute and let me finish talking to him?" He gave her his darkest glare and watched in satisfaction as the pink haired girl simply nodded and remained silent.

"Neji please, what happened? We need to know."

"Our team...was...ambushed...got...separated" Sasuke waited as patiently as his nerves would allow him while the Hyuuga began coughing and attempted to regain control of his breathing. "Don't know...what happened...to...Ka...kashi...and Nar...uto...you need to...hurry..." Neji began coughing again as his breath once more failed him, but Sasuke was already running in the opposite direction.

"Shit!" He ran towards the Uchiha compound to gather his gear and then depart before finding Naruto. _I need to take a map to Neji and get him to show me exactly where they split up and went off course or else I might not have a snowball's chance in hell of finding them. _Once he had gathered everything he needed he left the house and started back towards the village gates, hoping to leave without any problems. He couldn't afford the time to get Tsunade's permission to leave; he needed to find Naruto as soon as possible.

After heading to the hospital and showing a map to Neji, he ran off to the village gates and made it about ten feet outside the village before he heard the annoying pink haired girl's voice hollering at him to stop. Why did she always stop him every time he tried to leave the village without permission? Did she have some obsession with stopping people from getting to their plans? Man, he did not need this right now...

"Sasuke wait! You can't just go find them without Lady Tsunade's permission! You know that so what are you trying to do? We already have people out there searching and I'm sure they'll find them right? Leaving now without permission is only going to cause problems later"

Pissed off and in a hurry, he turned around to glare at the girl, and inwardly smiled when she took a step back from him. "Sakura, I really don't care about getting permission at the moment. Naruto is our friend and so is Kakashi, so either you can help me find them or stay the hell out of my way!"

Sighing to herself Sakura realized how stupid she was at that moment. _This is Sasuke I'm talking to, he's the most stubborn man in all of Konoha and Naruto is his best friend. Why did I ever even let myself think that he cared about something like following the rules and getting permission? _"Alright I'm coming with you; if they're hurt they'll need medical ninjutsu after all."

As much as she frustrated and annoyed him sometimes, Sakura had a point on that one. Medical ninjustu was something he couldn't do, so at least she was making herself useful. But damn the girl had a habit of stopping him and then insisting to go along, it was becoming rather irritating...

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><p>Somewhere in the forest...<p>

The medical ninja had been searching for hours without any sign of the Hyuuga's remaining team members. The situation was looking bleak and they were running out of ideas. Lady Tsunade had given them the general area they should look in for the two ninja but nothing had turned up and the onset of nightfall wasn't helping. If the team was ambushed, Lord only knew where the two who were out there were...

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><p>Somewhere on the other side of the forest...<p>

They had stopped to rest a while ago, but it turned out to be their last stop. The wound in Kakashi's leg and Naruto's draining energy prevented them from going any further. He no longer had the ability to walk while supporting Kakashi's weight and they found that the need to stop had come sooner than they had hoped.

"Kakashi-sensei how are you doing?" A worn out Naruto asked his teacher as he helped him to sit down against the trunk of a large tree. He hadn't seen the man looking this worn out since the last time he had over used his sharingan.

"I've certainly felt better, Naruto have we got any water left?"

"Sorry Sensei, but no, it's all been drunk."

Kakashi nodded his understanding sleepily. They were in a bad situation no matter how you looked at it. He was wounded, Naruto was exhausted from helping him, they were now out of water, and nightfall was quickly approaching. On top of all of that, just to take things from bad to worse, he was pretty sure the enemy wasn't too far behind them and that they were simply waiting for the right time to catch them off guard. _God, if only I could see Iruka right now...I don't care how bad the situation is, being with him could make being stuck in hell feel like heaven. But where the hell are those two ninja? We couldn't have put that much distance between ourselves and them, not at the speed we were travelling. They're going to have to make a move and show themselves at some point._

As if the rogue ninja could read his mind and decided to oblige his request, a kunai flew millimetres from Naruto's face, neatly slicing the air and burying itself in a tree.

"Holy shit!" A surprised Naruto was startled into action by the carefully aimed kunai. Grabbing his own kunai, he stepped in front of Kakashi to protect his wounded sensei.

"Naruto are you nuts? Run while you can and go find some backup!"

"And leave you to defend yourself in that condition sensei? I don't think so! Bring it on!"

No sooner had the words left Naruto's mouth, there was a clashing of kunai in a flurry of taijutsu. Kakashi attempted to get up, knowing that Naruto was already tired and would need help, but the wounded leg only collapsed underneath his weight, The crisp smell of chakra hung in the air as ninjutsus went off at near ridiculous speeds. If it weren't for his sharingan, Kakashi would've missed nearly everything that was happening. _Damn! Of all the times to be wounded!_

Naruto's energy wasn't going to last much longer, even with help from the nine tails he could feel himself draining fast. But he had been matching his enemy blow for blow, and keeping up with the jutsu hadn't been terribly difficult. He knew that even though he was wearing down, so was the man in front of him. It had become a battle of endurance, and they were both waiting for an opening to strike. _Wait...there were two of them when they attacked us earlier. There was this bastard who fought mostly with ninjutsu, but then there was that other one...the one with the katana...where the hell is he now? If there are two of them targeting two of us, then why only attack with one person? What is there target? Are they only attacking with one because Kakashi is injured so they don't feel the need to bother? _It was then that Naruto realized the actual plan, and that the target wasn't a "what" it was a "who", and he knew exactly who the target was. _Shit! Since Kakashi is wounded he can't fight back nearly as well, it makes him an easy target! This was never about fighting me, that was just to keep me out of the way for their attack! _

"Shit! Kakashi!" He dove in front of the copy ninja as the second enemy flew down from the tree with his katana at the ready. He had just barely gotten in front of his sensei when he felt the burning of the blade pierce through his chest.

"NARUTO!" Kakashi stared in horror as Naruto threw himself in front of the lightening fast katana. In the blink of an eye, Naruto was standing in front of him with the long blade protruding from his body at a sickening angle.

**~ TBC ~**


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Sorry this took so horribly long to update everything has been like stupid busy and my computer is being a royal pain in the butt with all of its problems

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Naruto characters they all belong to their amazing creator Masashi Kishimoto

"Well we ambushed them to split them up and get to the copy ninja, so at least that much worked. Too bad your katana went through the wrong one..."

"Ah well, at least it was the nine tails, so that's like getting bonus points anyways. And besides he's wounded now, plus he won't leave his team mate out here to turn into insect food so I'd say our job is done since he's not going anywhere anytime soon."

"Good enough for me, let's go grab something to eat; I'm hungry as hell over here!" As he kicked Naruto across the clearing, the blonde let out a yelp when the blade freed itself from the katana's handle and stayed in his chest. Laughing and walking alongside one another, the two rogue ninja disappeared into the thick of the trees. "See ya around Copy Ninja!"

Naruto lay there limply with blood staining his clothes and seeping into the ground. "Damnit..." His breath came out in rasps as the edges of his vision began to blur. _Damn...come on move! You need to get up and make sure they didn't get to Kakashi-sensei! Move damnit! _He willed his body to move, trying to get onto his knees; he felt the searing pain that was tearing through his chest.

"Naruto! Don't try to get up or move too much, just stay there and I'll come to you!" Kakashi's voice rang across the clearing and through Naruto's ears. It sounded far away and hollow, but he still listened to the orders that his sensei yelled out to him. _Good, Kakashi seems to be safe...I succeeded in protecting him...If Kakashi-sensei is safe, then sleeping won't hurt anything..._

Kakashi slid over across the clearing to the bleeding blonde. Knowing that his friend and pupil was in pain because of him, brought tears to the rims of his eyes. But he would not shed the tears because of the rules that came with being a shinobi, so he kept the feelings that were racking his mind within himself. Once he got to Naruto, he could see that the young blonde's eyes were closing as if he were simply falling asleep.

"Don't you dare Naruto! You can't go there and that's an order!"

The voice telling him to stay awake seemed to be impossibly far away, but it still sounded like Kakashi was trying to tell him something important. He tried to focus his bleary vision on the silver-haired nin, but had no success in doing so since everything still looked like a fuzzy and colourful mess of green from the forest. So he spoke out instead, hoping that his sensei could hear him. "Ka...kashi?"

"Good Naruto, stay awake you hear me! Stay awake!"

It was difficult to speak through the blood in his mouth and the lack of air in his lungs, but his voice weakly continued to work. "How is...your...your leg?"

"Of all the things for you to worry about at a time like this...I'm doing okay Naruto, I'll be fine."

"That's...good..." The blonde's eyes began to drift closed again as he started to fade.

"Naruto!" He looked like he'd fallen asleep as his eyelids finished their descent. "NARUTO!"

A/N: Well this was a short chapter, but so is my computer's life span tonight, hopefully this makes it out okay before my computer decides to leave me! Hopefully this keeps you guys attached to this story for a little while until I can get the next one out!

Obviously as you can see on the profile, this is the only thing I've ever written, and I am a review addict! So please leave reviews so that I can improve for you! - Sephoriya


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Yay for the wonderful people known as computer repairmen! My computer once again has life and a renewed amount of speed and efficiency!

NarutoInuuCrossOverr: I'll definitely try to make the chapters longer for you!

ForeverWildfire 2.0: Now that my computer has a renewed sense of life, hopefully the updates will be fairly regular

Disclaimer: I only own Naruto mangas that fill my bookshelf; all of the characters belong to their amazing creator Masashi Kishimoto

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><p>It was a good thing he had asked Neji where they were when the team was ambushed. Neji had told him that they had ended up straying extremely off course from where the mission was supposed to be, and they had wound up on the opposite side of the forest. The medical unit had been sent the wrong way. Sasuke handed Neji a map and he had pointed out where he'd last seen Naruto and Kakashi.<p>

Just as Sasuke and Sakura were about to leave for the area that Neji had shown them, Tsunade showed up at the village gates.

"You're going after Naruto and Kakashi." It was a statement more than a question because she already knew the answer.

"Don't try to stop me! That's my best friend out there and I'll be da-" Tsunade held up a hand to stop the Uchiha's tirade. Once she had his attention she continued.

"I didn't come down here to stop you Sasuke. I came to tell you that it is a good plan to have Sakura go along with you for medical ninjutsu, but it would be better to have a proper three man cell in case you run into their attackers. So I was going to suggest that you also have Captain Yamato accompany you."

Sasuke hadn't even noticed that Captain Yamato was standing beside her until she said his name and gestured towards the man. "Oh, well, in that case...Yes ma'am! Thank you!" On those words the team departed and the search commenced.

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><p>The team travelled in silence and no one really knew what to say to make it any different. Even the birds and the wind that was normally present in the forest seemed to have fallen silent. The only thing to be heard was the sound of foot falls as the team sped through the trees from branch to branch. Unfortunately, the everlasting silence gave Sasuke time to think, and his mind was racing. He couldn't stop thinking about the night before the mission...<p>

"_Come on Sasuke, I need sleep...please let me – umph!" Sasuke captured Naruto's lips again and stopped his protests. Naruto opened his mouth to tell him to stop and Sasuke took advantage of the opportunity to explore the blonde's mouth with his tongue._

_At this point all resistance in Naruto disappeared as the two bodies got reacquainted with each other. The need for air broke the kiss and Sasuke continued on his way down the blonde's neck. Naruto let out a groan that resonated deep in his tan chest. "Ah! Sasuke please! I need to sleep!"_

"_Sleep with me you mean, and I'm happy to oblige." The raven haired man gave Naruto a wicked grin before moving onto his nipple. He was determined to take Naruto for the first time tonight since the blonde had yet to let him do so and the mission he had been given was a dangerous one. He needed to have Naruto now so that the blonde would only think of him during the mission and come back all the faster. Suddenly there were two hands shoving him away and he found himself on the flat of his back with Naruto looking down at him. "Naruto what the he- Ah!" The blonde took Sasuke into his mouth and started massaging the tip of his member with his tongue._

"_I also need to be able to walk tomorrow, so just shut up teme and let me take care of your problem down here."_

_Naruto's tongue worked its way around his cock as the blonde moved up and down his length. What his tongue and lips couldn't cover, Naruto's slender fingers took care of. Deep moans escaped from the Uchiha as the blonde continued to "take care of his problem."_

"_Ah! Don't stop! Naruto!"_

"NARUTO!"

The sound of his sensei's yell snapped Sasuke back to reality. "Sakura! Yamato! That was Kakashi, let's go!"

"Right!" The two other team members answered in unison.

_Damnit you knuckle head! You better be alright or I'm going to beat you to a pulp!_ As they entered the clearing, Sasuke's heart stopped.

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><p>Sitting at the other side of the clearing was a silver-haired nin, holding a mass of orange and black with a shock of yellow hair. It took Sasuke's brain a few moments to process that the mass was his lover and that protruding from his chest was the broken-off blade of a katana. He stood frozen to the spot as everything in him went cold and his mind turned blank. He hadn't really even noticed when Yamato and Sakura had entered the clearing just a few feet behind him. Yamato spoke as he saw Sasuke. "Sasuke! Did we find them? Wait, is that..."<p>

"Naruto!" Before Yamato could finish his sentence, Sasuke was across the clearing and beside Kakashi.

"Captain Yamato! Did we find- Oh my God! Naruto!" Sakura made her way across the clearing to the limp figure in Kakashi's arms.

"Kakashi-sensei, what happened? Neji came back to the village covered in blood and worn out worse that anyone's seen him in a long time, and now this? What the hell happened?" The raven-haired boy's voice rose in volume as he demanded answeres to his questions.

"Calm down Sasuke, I'm sure that Kaka-"

"Calm down? I'm looking at my best friend with a katana blade stuck through him like some kind of sickening meat skewer, and you want me to calm down?"

The boy was certainly trying Yamato's patience, he understood that the two were close friends, in fact he suspected that the two were more than that. But damnit, he had a point if the Uchiha would let him finish.

"As I was saying, perhaps you should try to calm down, don't even think about interrupting! Let me finish before you decide to go off on a rant again! Now in case you haven't noticed, which I'm sure you have by now, Naruto is just barely alive at the moment. So perhaps, instead of hollering at Kakashi and demanding answers, you could get out of Sakura's way so she can do her job and we can bring them both home instead of planning his funeral."

Right. That made sense. Sasuke stood with a stunned look on his face as he came to sit behind Kakashi and next to Yamato. A moment later, Kakashi slowly and carefully laid the blonde's body on the ground in front of Sakura and then joined them to sit on the other side of Yamato. The captain had made a good point and now Sasuke felt like an idiot for wasting what small amount of time Sakura might have had to save his dobe.

"Now Sasuke, perhaps if you're finished ranting at everyone, you could talk to Kakashi while Naruto is being healed. You'll have your answers that way, and on top of that, it'll keep you out of Sakura's way while she's working."

_Damn him! Why does Yamato get to be so calm and compsed? It's my job to look nonchalant and uncaring, not Yamatos! Why is it that whenever it comes to you Naruto, any sense of composure that I had, instantly disappears and I fly of the handle? Damnit!_

Well everyone can thank the computer repairmen, aka Frank, for fixing my dying computer! Hopefully now that it has a new sense of life it will stay that way and the chapters can come along faster!

Thank you for the reviews, please keep giving me more so that I can continue to improve for you! - Sephoriya


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I only own a few Naruto mangas, all of these characters belong to their brilliant creator Masashi Kishimoto, thank you Mr. Kishimoto for your amazing creations!

A/N: Ohmygoodness! I am so sorry everyone that updating everything took so long! And for your gracious and ever understanding patience cookies for everyone *hands out overly large cookies to all of the readers while sincerely apologizing* between writer's block and Christmas holidays this got horribly behind! So my late Christmas present to all of you wonderful readers is this update!

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><p>As soon as Sasuke moved, Sakura tied her hair back and started working on the blonde nin with an amazing balance of speed, precision, and a certain gentleness. The fact that he looked like he had simply laid down to take a nap made Naruto's body seem completely wrong considering the blade in his chest. Sakura suddenly began fidgeting with loose strands of hair and constantly changing her position where she was sitting. She sighed, stopped working, and nervously glanced at Sasuke.<p>

"Sasuke, could you please turn around?"

"What? Why?" The raven haired boy suddenly looked offended or as if he just had been slapped in the face, she really couldn't decide which. Sakura cleared her throat before speaking again.

"Because I can't work while you're staring at me and acting like he's already dead. So if you could just turn around, it'll be over faster than you think."

"If I stop staring, can I stay facing this way?" He cocked an eyebrow at the medical nin as if daring her to tell him to turn around again. The last thing he wanted to do was take his eyes off Naruto. He needed to know that he was going to be okay, he needed to see his dobe's brilliant blue eyes looking at him with that smiling expression that they always held.

"No, it would be better if you just turned around, trust me."

He had a looked as if she'd suddenly turned around and stabbed him with a kunai, or as if she'd told him that he was the biggest idiot that she'd ever seen, and she almost regretted the words as soon as they left her mouth.

"Excuse me? Did you just tell me to – "Suddenly Yamato took him by the shoulders and forced him to turn around. He was now sitting beside Kakashi and Yamato facing into the clearing.

"What the hell did you do that for?"

"Sasuke, Sakura isn't bothered by your staring. In fact, I'm sure she's gotten used to people staring while she heals their comrades."

"Well then why the hell do I need to turn around?" He stood and started turning around again only to have Yamato pull him back down to face the clearing again.

"She's trying to tell you that she has to remove the damn blade from his chest and that you really don't want to see it. You may have seen battles yes, ninja full of kunai and blades or blown up by bombs, but none of that will ever be as painful as seeing it in your best friend. You don't want to, or need to for that matter, see him like that and she's just trying to protect you. So turn around, sit down, and just stay that way!"

Oh. Right. That made sense too..._Damnit Naruto! Why can't I think logically around you?_ He turned back around to fully face the clearing and sat cross-legged beside Yamato again. He could faintly hear the healing chakra rushing from Sakura's hands and he knew that they would be glowing that strange shade of green. He tried to focus on only that sound, the sound of Naruto being healed, the sound that meant his dobe would come back to him. He cringed and felt himself turn pale when he could hear Sakura's grunt and the sickening sound of metal leaving flesh. Part of him felt like losing the contents of his stomach in a nearby bush, and part of him was glad he had listened to Yamato, but another part of him felt a surge of relief knowing that the blade was no longer there. Not able to handle the silence anymore, and needing to do something to keep himself from turning around again, Sasuke questioned his sensei.

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><p>"Kakashi?"<p>

Even though he already knew what Sasuke was going to ask him, he didn't know what to say. How could he tell him that Naruto had jumped in front of the blade to protect him? He already knew that simply saying they were ambushed and that in the world of the shinobi, these things happen, wasn't going to be enough. Sasuke would want every detail of what had happened, and why he hadn't been there to help. The boy already looked like he was going to fall apart, an expression that no one ever saw upon his face, the Uchiha didn't need self-imposed guilt on top of that too...

The jounin tried to answer as calmly as possible. "Yes Sasuke?"

"What happened?" There it was...such a complicated question in so few words.

"The mission was going successfully, the lady we were escorting returned back to her home safely, and after receiving a letter of thanks for Lady Tsunade, we started heading back to the village."

"Let me guess, that's when the problems started?" This was the first time Yamato had spoken since telling the Uchiha to turn around and his voice had come out surprisingly calmer than he had thought it would.

"Yes. That's exactly it. We started running into obvious and poorly placed traps. But no matter how pathetically placed they were or how bluntly obvious they seemed, they were always done just well enough that we either had to disable them or go around."

"Just enough to constantly throw you off course then..."

"Yes. So we decided to split up, sending Neji ahead since he has the Byakugan and could spot the traps easier, and Naruto and I to deal with those annoying idiots. After all one person can avoid stupid things like those setups much faster and easier than three. But once they realized we had split up, so did they."

"One after Neji, and one to stick to you two."

"Precisely. We hadn't heard about Neji until you three had arrived, so when the other one came back we assumed that he had either given up or Neji was dead. At this point I had a bad wound in my thigh and we focused on simply keeping some distance between us and them."

"Knowing Naruto, he was probably helping you, which would have worn him out. Between that fact and your wound, you were forced to stop?"

"It never ceases to amaze me at how accurately perceptive you can be Yamato."

"Well, let me guess again. They obviously caught up to you and a fight broke out, but the rest I can't possibly figure out without fully examining the area extremely closely."

"And once again you are correct. What was a surprise was that only one of them came down and attacked, and almost instantly he and Naruto started fighting. Even at the beginning of the fight, Naruto looked like he was worn down to the bone and it was painfully obvious, so I tried to help but this stupid leg wouldn't cooperate."

"So they purposely severed the larger muscles in your leg earlier on, figuring that Naruto would help you, therefore wearing his energy down, but then also preventing you from helping him later on...clever bastards."

"Clever bastards indeed. But then part way through the battle Naruto had this look on his face as if he had realized some big, important thing. Next thing I saw, there was a katana rushing towards me, and then it was buried in Naruto... They said I had been the target, but that killing the nine-tails was like... was like... bonus points."

"Those bastards!" Sasuke had not spoken during the entire conversation and if he had been listening intently to every detail and hanging onto every word, and his sudden outburst was as surprising as it was loud. He was boiling with rage and his next words were said in such an ominous, deadly whisper, that they were almost inaudible. "I'm going to kill those fucking assholes..."

"Ne...teme...you shouldn't make death threats...it makes you sound like an asshole..." Naruto's weak voice came out in a sarcastic and sleepy tone.

Kakashi and Yamato remained silent as they turned around to see the now conscious blonde. All they could really do was smile back at those smiling and hooded blue eyes, and neither of them really knew what to say. Sakura let out a huge sigh as she wiped her brow and just smiled lightly at her friend. Sasuke couldn't help but smile as a astronomical sense of relief rushed through his entire being.

"Welcome back dobe."

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><p>AN: Well hopefully this makes up for some of the desperately long wait that you were all forced to be patient through! *kneeling on floor* please forgive my lack of updating! I really wasn't sure where I wanted to go with this.

I am a complete addict when it comes to reviews, so please leave them so that I may improve for you! - Sephoriya


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Terribly sorry for the long wait everyone! Thank you for all the new favorites and likes, it's greatly appreciated! I know I'm terrible at updating for you guys, but I had the biggest bout of writers block and strep throat that anyone could imagine. I have finally decided where I want to go with this story for a little while and hopefully I'll be able to continue with it for some time now

Disclaimer: I only own the Naruto manga on my bookshelf and a few of my favorite Naruto items, all of the characters belong to their brilliant creator Masashi Kishimoto!

Now that I've babbled and given credit where it's due... on with the chapter!

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><p>Even with Naruto in his arms, the trip back to Konoha was going to be a long one. They would be slower with the inconvenience of Kakashi's wound and his need for assistance from Captain Yamato. To make matters worse, Naruto's wounds weren't healing as fast as they should have. Even with the help of Kyuubi, Naruto just wasn't healing. Sasuke questioned Sakura about it and she had told him that the blade probably had some kind of concoction on it that was preventing Naruto's body from healing as it should have. She came to the conclusion that it had probably been invented by their attackers or someone from the enemy's village and had been placed on all of their weapons to prevent their targets from healing and surviving. Before Sasuke could panic about the substance and it's affect on the blonde's body, Sakura had reassured him that he would be fine once Tsunade looked him over.<p>

The problem was going to be getting to Lady Hokage. By the time Naruto was somewhat healed and Sakura managed to put his body in a stable condition, nightfall had caught up to them and stars blanketed the sky overhead. They had no choice but to make camp for the night and hope that the attackers didn't return to finish the job that they had started. Sakura told them that moving Naruto at this point wouldn't be a good idea since she was already having a difficult time keeping his body stable as it was, so they had made the camp around him instead. Since Kakashi couldn't walk over much distance he sat near the middle and prepared a fire with wood that was brought to him by Yamato. Sasuke unwilling to leave Naruto's side prepared blankets and afterwards began putting together a stew with water and food from Sakura.

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><p>It was mostly a quiet evening with Kakashi and Yamato discussing the best way to safely return home and Sakura resting after having spent so much chakra saving her friend's life. Sasuke spent his time making dinner for everyone and keeping an eye on Naruto. Small traps had been placed around the camp site to deter any unwanted visitors but everyone was still on edge and wary.<p>

Once the stew was ready, Sasuke took it upon himself to serve the others in hopes that a warm meal might relieve some of his comrade's tension. If Naruto were awake he would have jested at him saying that he actually did have a soft side and that he should be careful before he let it show too much. He could almost hear the taunts in his head as if they were being said out loud and this caused him to chuckle to himself. _"Ne...Sasuke! What's this? A soft side? Could it be that you actually care about your comrades and that uncaring attitude of yours is just an act? Better be careful teme, wouldn't want too many people knowing that you can be a nice guy at times too!"_ Ladling out bowls of stew, he took over two to Kakashi and Yamato.

"What's this Sasuke? Are you feeling ill?" Yamato questioned him with a light joking tone.

"Don't worry Sasuke, we won't tell Naruto. Hehe, wouldn't want him knowing that he missed his chance to tease you about something now would we?" Kakashi was barely suppressing his laugh as he teased his former pupil.

"Yeah, yeah... Look, you don't have to eat if you don't want it. I'm sure these two bowls of stew could serve a much better purpose over by the pot and that's such a long distance for you to walk Kakashi if I tie the Captain here up so that he can't help you." He had a difficult time not laughing as well as his two sensei's just shook their heads and chuckled while quietly accepting their bowls. After serving the two older shinobi, Sasuke returned to the pot and filled another bowl for Sakura. He walked over to where she had laid down to take a nap and gently tapped her shoulder to wake her up and give her some dinner. She rolled over, sat up, and upon noticing Sasuke asked if something was wrong.

"No, nothing wrong just thought you might like to have something to eat while it's still hot."

She nodded and blushed a bit while quietly accepting the steaming bowl of stew. As Sasuke turned, Sakura mumbled quietly to herself "how unusual of him..."

"What was that?"

"No, nothing Sasuke. Just thinking out loud to myself is all."

Knowing that she'd made a comment about his current behaviour, he ignored it and returned to the pot to fill up another bowl. Walking over to Naruto, he gently shook him awake hoping that the blonde wouldn't startle and try to sit up quickly or anything. While waiting for him to wake up, Sasuke couldn't help but notice that with his wound not healing, Naruto still looked like death warmed over. His skin, although tan, looked pale and sweaty all over. His eyelids still looked heavy, and his entire physique continued to appear frail, beat up, and weak.

"Now if only that were ramen instead of stew..."

Sasuke laughed inwardly; of course his dobe would be looking for ramen. "Nah, we both know that stew is healthier for you anyway."

"Yeah, but ramen tastes better hehe"

"You trying to say that my cooking isn't going to taste good dobe?"

"Hehe okay, okay I'll be quiet about it"

"Good." Placing the bowl down beside Naruto's head, he moved to sit behind him and slowly lifted the blonde's upper body causing him to grunt and hiss in pain.

"Ne, Sasuke..."

"I know, I know and I'm sorry... but you can't very well eat lying down completely, even Sakura could tell you that. So just put up with it for a few more seconds." Sitting on his knees, he placed Naruto's head and shoulders on his legs so that he was slightly sitting up enough to not choke on food but so that his head was also cushioned. "Better?"

"Yeah...Thanks."

Trying not to blush from the blinding smile that he was receiving, Sasuke took a spoonful of stew and began to feed his dobe. After about half the bowl had been eaten between the two of them, Naruto spoke.

"You know, you're not such a bad cook after all teme" That blinding smile was plastered all over his face.

"Well you never come over before supper so that I can cook for you at home now do you? You always come after you've already eaten"

"I don't want to be a pain in the ass to you so it's just easier to eat beforehand"

"Well so much for that plan eh?"

"What plan?"

"The plan of not being a pain in the ass to me"

"What do you mean?"

"You made me worry myself sick, you practically died and nearly caused me to go insane, and I came all the way out here looking for you and probably drove Sakura insane doing it, all just to find you as an unmoving heap of body with Kakashi and a blade sticking out of your chest! What the hell were you thinking?"

"...I'm sorry Sasuke..."

"No. Don't be... I'm not angry, more like just worried sick. I understand why you did it, I mean anyone would've done that to protect their friend...I just wish I had been here to protect you..."

"Well you're here now and you'll be there when we go home, and that's what matters"

"Yeah, but..."

"Ne, Sasuke? Has anyone ever told you that you cook good food?" Naruto flashed him a brilliant smile, and even though his eyes were surrounded by heavy, tired eyelids, the cerulean pools of light underneath those eyelids were full of life, energy, and happiness.

"Thanks dobe."

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><p>AN: Okay, so I kind of realized something after writing and reading back through this chapter... That usually throughout the Naruto anime, bowls are never seen as something that is packed in the equipment for travel. So I apologize to those of you who really enjoy sticking to minor details, but I really needed the bowls to be able to make this scene happen between Naruto and Sasuke... So please bear with me as I leave a few logical details behind on the platform of reality while I board the train of imagination :D

Hope to have the next chapter out really soon! Remember, constructive criticism is always greatly appreciated! – Sephoriya


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Well being excused from classes due to illness certainly gives one a lot of time to ponder some plot ideas. So here goes for the start of another chapter, hopefully going to try and make this one a bit longer for you guys! Oh, and sorry for failing to mention this to all of you before, but this story doesn't have a beta reader since I'm still in the process of trying to find a beta and decide where I want to go with this. So if you have any constructive criticisms that you'd like to pass on, feel free to leave them in the reviews okay?

Disclaimer: The only Naruto characters I have are made of ceramics and are permanently frozen in figurine form; all characters belong to their inventive creator Masashi Kishimoto!

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><p>It had already been three days since Sasuke, Sakura, and Yamato had come across their injured and weary friends. Unfortunately, whatever concoction it was that had been placed on the enemies' weapons, it was still preventing the wound in Naruto's abdomen, and the severed muscles and tendons in Kakashi's leg from healing. Kakashi couldn't move around without help, and Sakura had told them that moving Naruto at all was probably out of the question. The blonde nin's condition wasn't improving by any degree and all the antidotes that Sakura managed to put together seemed to have little to no effect at all. The only antidote that seemed to take was one that was preventing both of the injured shinobi from bleeding out. It wasn't able to close the wounds, but as the hokage's apprentice had explained, it sat on top of the skin and sealed the areas around the wound, causing it to act somewhat like a barrier and therefore preventing the flowing blood from leaving their already weakened bodies.<p>

All of these issues combined had prevented the group from leaving their campsite for the past three days as they tried to figure out a way to get home. Dawn crept up across the horizon and over the tree tops on the fourth day as Captain Yamato slid silently out of the makeshift tent he shared with the copy nin. It was so quiet and peaceful throughout the forest, that one would have never guessed at how many fierce battles between shinobi these trees had witnessed. He sat silently for a few moments listening to the morning symphony of sounds around him. Birds sang and whistled high pitched, trilling tunes at each other, while small butterflies and other insects created a small, constant rhythm with their ever-moving wings. Knowing that his comrades would soon be waking up as well, he added some new logs to the fire pit and lit them. Then, rummaging through a sac that was sitting next to a log beside the pit, he pulled out the small hanging pot that was used to make tea. Taking the pot with him, he walked about a hundred feet away from the campsite to a small, free-flowing stream. Bending over to fill the small pot, he noticed Sasuke sitting a few feet away.

Walking over to the younger shinobi, he purposely stepped on a twig and broke it to catch the younger man's attention since he hadn't seemed to take notice of him yet. The Uchiha shot up like an arrow, swiftly bringing his katana out from its protective sheath and to the front in a lethal stance.

"Now, now Sasuke...I don't think you'd want to use that on me. It'd get rusty and then you'd have to take all that painstaking time to clean it, know what I mean?"

"Oh. Captain Yamato...it's just you. I thought you were-"

"I know who you thought I was. It's fine. We've all been on edge lately since we've been forced to stay in one place for so long. It makes you feel a bit vulnerable or like you've put up one of those neon signs that we see in the village saying here I am come get me, right?"

"Yeah...that's a pretty accurate description of it..."

"You look like you haven't slept since we got here." It was more a statement than a question. Yamato already knew the boy hadn't been sleeping. No one had really. Even Naruto with so little energy, had fitful and short sleeps.

"You're not really looking too much better yourself Captain"

"Have you heard how Kakashi-sensei snores? You wouldn't sleep much either sharing a tent with a human-contained thunder storm"

"Ha! That's nothing compared to Naruto when he's actually sleeping well! Compared to the snoring and the sleep-talk about ramen, I don't know which one keeps people awake more"

"Hehe, I say we put the two of them together in one tent and they can snore at each other while rest of us finally get some quiet sleep eh?"

"Too bad it would never work, combining the two of them together in one tent would just create a thunderous noise so loud it could be heard all the way back to Konoha! At least separated we stand a chance of being able to muffle the noise"

With the pot now filled and some of the day's tension relieved, the two nins started walking back to the camp where everyone else was just starting to wake up. The smell of cooking food was drifting down towards them from the top of the small hill that the camp was resting upon.

"Well, looks like Sakura is awake and cooking" Sasuke commenting while deeply inhaling the smells wafting towards them.

Yamato gave him a questioning look. "How do you know that it's Sakura?"

"Well besides the obvious for Naruto and the obvious wound for Kakashi..."

"Oh. Right." Yamato was surprised that he'd managed to talk himself into that obvious verbal trap.

"But that's not how I know. I've spent enough time on missions with them to know that Kakashi's food wouldn't smell nearly as good, and that it doesn't smell like ramen and it hasn't disappeared so it's not Naruto."

"Disappeared?"

"We left Naruto with the cooking once while we covered the rest of the chores, and he ate it all almost as soon as it was done cooking and there was nothing left. So, yes, disappeared."

* * *

><p>The two of them walked back into the camp, stepping over a wire trap that had been placed behind the tent they were approaching. Kakashi had been helped out of the tent and was now sitting on a log next to the fire holding an empty cup. He looked up at them and through his mask a huge smile could be seen plastered to his face from ear to ear. "Ah! Finally some service! Waiter, tea if you please!" Sasuke simply shook his head at his sensei reminding him that the water was still cold and tea would have to be made, and that if he ever called him waiter again he could make his own tea for the rest of the trip. His face fell, and with a joking gesture his bottom lip could be seen sticking out under the mask in a pouting expression that didn't suit the silver haired nin.<p>

"Sasuke, Yamato-sensei, breakfast is almost ready. Can the two of you help Naruto out here and get sitting up so that he can eat with us?" The two men nodded and walked over to Sasuke and Naruto's tent to carry out her request.

Yamato stopped just outside the opening of the tent and waited. "I'll let you wake him up and then I'll come in to give you a hand"

"Yeah, thanks"

Truthfully, Yamato hadn't waited outside to be polite. He had seen Naruto in some bad conditions after the nine tails had gotten out of control, but this he couldn't watch. The look of death never seemed to leave and the boy constantly had a grey ashen look to his skin. He couldn't go in to help wake him up because when the blonde slept he looked as though he wouldn't wake up at all and it was that look that rattled Yamato's nerves to no end. Everyone in the village had always avoided Naruto and spread rumors about him, and Yamato had been one of the many that believed the constant whisperings. It was only after Naruto had become a part of his team along with Sakura and Sai, that he had truly realized that many of the rumors were never true and that he in fact quite liked Naruto. Sure the shinobi could sometimes be loud and obnoxious, but he reminded him of having a younger sibling around who was constantly the life of the group. Now without that loud, boisterous attitude around, everything seemed quiet, tense, and almost full of dread. In many ways, over the past few days Yamato had become jealous of Sasuke. The younger man had a lot of courage that he himself did not posses to be able to walk into that tent everyday and see his closest friend in such a state. Especially when it was obvious to Yamato that the two of them were not just friends, they were much closer than that.

Sasuke entered the tent and had to remind himself that Naruto was simply sleeping, and that the hands of death had not claimed his friend's life. Although he knew he shouldn't be saying "friend". Naruto was much more to him that that. He was a friend, and a rival, but most of all he was his lover. And should death claim him, he knew his sanity wouldn't hold and he would abandon the village to hunt down the bastards that brought this upon him. Hell, he already wanted to hunt them down for doing this much to him. It was only the fact that his dobe needed him here that kept him from doing so. In many ways he was jealous of Yamato, who had the ability to stay outside of the tent and still remain calm, cool, and collected. He envied that in Kakashi-sensei as well. Why was it that Naruto always made him lose his cool and his nonchalant attitude would always disappear?

He knelt down beside the blonde and gently shook his shoulder. "Hey, breakfast."

"He, I thought something smelt good...must be Sakura's cooking" Naruto's eyelids slowly ascended as he began to wake, he flashed Sasuke a weak smile. "Mornin'..."

"Morning, dobe."

After carefully moving Naruto outside the tent and propping him up against some bags and blankets so that he could sit comfortably, Sakura served breakfast to everyone and the rest of the morning was spent with conversation, laughter, and trying to make the best of a bad situation.

* * *

><p>It was later in the day when the group got back together for lunch. Sakura had gone out to look for more herbs that she could use, and Yamato had gone out to check traps and reset any that might have been set off by roaming animals. Kakashi had stayed at the camp looking over maps of the forest in order to try and find the fastest and easiest route home. Sasuke checked traps closer to the camp behind the tents, and when he finished that he had also decided to restock their supply of fresh water and firewood. Naruto had been talking to Kakashi and Sasuke for a little while, but soon after his lack of energy caused him to fall asleep. Sasuke had started to make another stew from some of the ingredients they had left in the bags, when he noticed that Naruto had nodded off and once again fallen asleep. <em>Well, at least he's getting plenty of rest...<em>

Later when everyone had returned from their self-assigned chores, Sasuke ladled out the stew into the bowls and handed them to everyone. He went over with a bowl to Naruto's sleeping figure. _Wow, this is the longest he's managed to sleep since getting stabbed, and he doesn't usually look so calm in his sleep either, I mean lately he's been having a really difficult time not having a fitful sleep..._ Feeling a bit anxious over the fact that the blonde had slept so deeply for so long, he quickened his pace and threw the bowl to the ground, running over to Naruto.

"Naruto! Hey! Dobe!" When he went to place his hand on the boy's un-bandaged shoulder to wake him up, he noticed that the skin underneath his hand was practically on fire. He placed his hand on Naruto's forehead and felt that it was just as warm if not hotter, and that the blonde's body had begun to sweat a great deal. _No wonder he slept so well! He's running an extremely high fever! Damn it Naruto, why didn't you say anything to anyone?_ "Sakura! Naruto's running a bad fever!"

The pink haired medical nin shot up like an arrow and was by Naruto's side in a matter of seconds. She checked his temperature, his breathing, and his pulse with a lightning fast efficiency that could put many of the most experienced medical ninjas to shame. She sighed and looked at Sasuke and then at Yamato who had also run over. "He needs Lady Tsunade's help. All the antidotes I've tried aren't working and his body isn't holding up well. Kakashi could use her help too otherwise that leg may never heal."

"But we can't just pick them up and take them to her"

"I'm aware of that Sasuke. That's why I have a suggestion and it's the only logical plan I can think of. I'm sure Captain Yamato and Kakashi-sensei have already thought of it. After all they wouldn't be doing all that talking and looking at maps just to come up empty handed. Honestly it wouldn't surprise me if we've all already thought of it."

"You mean we should split up and send someone ahead. So instead of bringing them to Lady Tsunade, we bring Lady Hokage to them."

"Exactly."

"And just who were you planning on sending? Kakashi and Naruto can't go and you're needed here."

"That still leaves us with a two man cell Sasuke"

"I'm not going."

"And why not? You're the one saying we should do something, and now that we're planning on doing something you're going to turn around and act like a child by refusing to go? Seriously?"

"I'm not going because I can't leave him here like this!"

"And if you don't go he may never leave here alive anyway!"

_Damn her! I can't leave Naruto here like this after I just got him back! But God damnit...if I don't go I may never get him back...Fuck!_

Yamato had had enough of listening to the two of them bicker when they already had a solution staring them in the face. "Sasuke! Sakura! Both of you grow up! Arguing obviously won't help! Sasuke, I'm sure that you've already logically reasoned out that Sakura is right so pack your bags and get ready to leave; we'll need to travel fast. And Sakura, you may be right, but he has a point of view as well and doesn't need to have it shoved in his face. He would've left either way to save Naruto and you should have known that about your teammate instead of patronizing him."

Once again Yamato had a point on both of them.

Sasuke had his gear prepared almost instantaneously. They were going to be leaving a lot of it behind so that they would be lighter and travel faster and also so that Sakura could use the contents of their gear to help as much as possible. He went to Naruto's side and left him with a small paper note explaining where he went and that if he did anything stupid like dying, he was going to be him to a pulp.

And with the sun hitting its peak in the sky, they left for Konoha.

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><p>AN: Hey guys, so this is all for this chapter. I tried to make it a longer one for you! So there was a lot of dialogue in this chapter, but I wanted to try and keep the chapter light and show the characters as people and have it seem like someone whose actions you were watching but never really heard them talk. And once again I apologize for the random use of dishes but they made the scene work so there they are!

Please help me feed the review monster before he drives me insane and eats the city from starvation! – Sephoriya


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N:** *Steps off of train onto platform whilst carrying a very heavy looking suitcase in hand* Why hello there all my lovely readers and reviewers, I have returned from my trip into imagination and have stepped back into reality where I now sit in front of my computer writing for you! However, as wonderful as that sounds, it is not my only reason for having such a delayed output of chapters... Unfortunately, as a student entering into my first year of university, this task came with much time consuming, and frustrating paperwork. But now that registering for classes is complete and I am set to go for awhile, the chapter updates should come along much more smoothly!

**Kenny-Chan Can't Spell:** Glad to know that you are enjoying things so far and don't worry, I wish there were more reviews as well! Not having them makes it hard to know whether or not readers are happy with the way things are developing! Not to mention the huge-ass review monster hiding under the bed and getting cranky from starvation... So perhaps you could help me out and spread the word ne?

**Disclaimer:** If I actually owned the Naruto characters, Naruto and Sasuke would have been together way long ago before now! However, I leave their plot up to their amazing creator Masashi Kishimoto!

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><p>It felt like he was part of a horrible slow-motion scene. No matter how much quicker you went, you couldn't travel any faster. It was as if he were stuck in one of those nightmares when no matter how much you want to run away, you're trapped in one place. The leaves went by in a blur, birds were left behind in a swirl of wind, and the branches made sharp little slaps as his feet touched and left again. And yet, Sasuke felt as though the trees were laughing at him, making a mockery of his constant and unrelenting efforts... <em>Why are you even trying...? You'll never be able to travel fast enough little shinobi... Your friend will die with no one beside him because you left... He will die alone with no one but the trees looking down on him to bear witness to his last breath...<em>

"SHUT UP!"

"Everything okay Sasuke-kun?"

"...uh...yeah sorry..." Sasuke hadn't even realized that he'd yelled out loud until the wood user asked that... He could've sworn the trees had been whispering blasphemy into his ears and mind, he also could've sworn that that thought of telling them to shut up had stayed in his head. After all, he was an Uchiha. And Uchihas just don't lose their composure, and they certainly don't talk back to trees that weren't talking.

The Captain's voice suddenly broke through his thoughts once again. "You know, sometimes it sounds as if these trees are talking to you, don't you think? It's as if they know your thoughts and can whisper into your ears...especially when you're worried or full of anxiety...it's like they know how to get on your nerves and make you doubt every move."

It was creepy the way the man did that. It was like he knew every thought in everyone's head at any given moment, and he sometimes chose to voice that ability just to freak people out and get into their heads even more.

But he wasn't about to let the older man get to him. This was one time when the nonchalant, Uchiha classical sarcasm became one's best defense. "You sure you don't need Lady Tsunade to look at your head Captain?"

"Haha, no. I've just seen many shinobi come out of these woods muttering about talking trees. And when you've experienced that feeling yourself, it becomes easy to spot it on the faces of others who aren't used to it. It works especially well against enemies, when fighting amongst these trees you can get into their heads easily because of your knowledge of their current experience. You learn to say just the right things and you can make the tree's voices come to life..."

"So...you've heard them? The trees I mean..."

"Yes. Many times, especially on taxing missions that create anxiety and worry. And being worried about your comrades screws with your mind pretty badly, so it's no surprise that the trees started talking to you Sasuke-kun"

"I don't hear the trees Captain, I mean yes Naruto and Kakashi-sensei are my comrades, but come on. They'll be fine once Tsunade looks at them so why bother getting anxious when that won't help at all?"

"You know, you talk good, but your body gives you away."

"Ha! Right, I'm not doing anything different than I normally do."

"You may be good at holding a mask of calm over your expressions, but you haven't mastered your eyes yet. They look calm and collected when one takes a quick glance. That's good in combat because your enemy won't have enough time for more than a quick glance. But travelling with you as a team mate, I can see more under the mask. Your eyes give away you anxieties and your fears. You've been using even more sarcasm than usual too. You always use sarcasm, but when it comes to this extent it's because you're shielding yourself. Sasuke-kun have you also noticed the speed at which we're travelling?"

"No, we always travel quickly. We're shinobi after all." But he still stole a glace around himself anyway, only to find that everything was moving past in an impossible blur, and that the wind that beat against their bodies was so strong from their added speed, that their hair never once came to their faces, and their clothes were constantly plastered tight against their bodies.

"The fact that you've hardly taken a break or slowed down in the whole few hours we've been travelling tells me that you're in more of a hurry than usual. This constant speed and necessary energy are quite taxing to the body and yet you've hardly slowed down for anything. You're concern for Naruto as a lover forces you to travel faster in hopes of getting to him sooner."

"How did you...?"

"Know? Like I've stated, you may wear a mask, but there are many things that give you away when you know where to look." The Captain just smiled knowingly at him in that unblinking way of his.

God it was creepy the way the man did that.

* * *

><p>Time had slowed to a crawl. Hours felt like they were lingering in the air without going anywhere. Something had changed around him since Sasuke had been making lunch. He knew he'd fallen asleep, and had drifted in and out of slumber since. Sakura and Sasuke had argued, but their voices had been so hollow and dull sounding that he didn't know about what. He was still outside, lying against blankets and packs. But it felt like people were missing even though their packs were still here. Somehow he just knew that Sasuke had left. His body felt too warm still and he felt the need to unzip his jacket. Slowly trying to bring up what felt like a leaden arm, he felt a paper crinkle in his hand. He brought it up to eye level so that he could read the scrawled note, and immediately recognized the Uchiha's writing.<p>

_Hey Dobe,  
>Left with Yamato to bring Lady Tsunade to you. Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone or I'll beat you to a pulp when I get back.<em>

_-Sasuke_

The short note written by the raven-haired man spoke volumes to the blonde. _Don't do anything stupid..._ Don't die.

"Naruto! See you got Sasuke's note" Kakashi-sensei's voice was close by and Naruto turned his head to see the silver-haired man sitting next to him, smiling underneath the ever-present mask.

"He always said he was never good at writing letters"

"Well, you and I both know that even the most poorly written notes can hold the deepest meaning. Hang on; Sakura said she wanted to see you as soon as you were awake... Sakura! The hyper-active knuckle-head has decided to stop dreaming for awhile!"

"Finally! God, you sleep like the dead Naruto!"

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><p>The gates of Konoha were a welcoming sight for Sasuke. Knowing that he was halfway there to completing his goal and saving his dobe felt like the weight of an anvil had been lifted from his shoulders. He knew he looked like he'd been through hell and back, and he knew that normally simply barging into the Hokage's office was extremely disrespectful. But right now he didn't care. Barging in was the plan. Tsunade already knew that Naruto and Kakashi were in trouble went she'd let him go after them, an explanation would hardly be needed for his intrusion.<p>

"Sasuke, I'm going to talk to the Nara's and see if they have any stronger antidote recipes in the books that they've compiled. I'm also going to see if they might have any idea what the concoction on the weapons was."

"Okay, I'm going to head straight to Lady Hokage's office"

"Try to remain polite. Ranting only pisses her off more." The two nodded at each other before heading in their opposite directions.

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><p>Sakura had given him a quick once-over. Her face fell as she noted that his condition was not improving, and when he told her that he still felt tired and would like to go back to sleep, she only gave him a worried look and nodded to him. Naruto felt bad for making her worry so much about him like this, but he knew he would follow Sasuke's instructions to the letter and he promised he wouldn't do anything stupid.<p>

Sakura turned and looked at Kakashi next. She changed his bandages and applied another layer of the liquid that was containing the blood within his body. Her actions were careful and full of purpose, but her face gave her away.

"No one will judge you as anything less if you show your emotions you know."

Kakashi-sensei's words struck deep within her, and before she could regain control she found herself weeping. Naruto was always the ray of sunshine, the ball of energy, and the glue that kept the team together. If they lost him now, everything would fall apart. Everyone would lose something important to them. Nothing would be the same. Knowing all of this, and knowing that the possibility of everything ending was so close caused the pink-haired girl to feel a sense of dread, helplessness, and anger. All she could do was watch him lie there sleeping and wait for Sasuke to come save everything. Why did someone always have to save her? Either Naruto or Sasuke had always been there to save her when she needed it, and now when she might lose Naruto, she couldn't be there to save him. Sakura also realised that if she lost Naruto, she would lose Sasuke too. Naruto was his best friend, losing him would practically kill the raven-haired man from the inside out. She was going to lose both of them and there was nothing she could do to save either of them.

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><p>"What do you mean she's not here? HOW CAN SHE NOT BE HERE?"<p>

Even though she was older than the young Uchiha, Shizune felt herself inwardly cringe at the boy's anger.

"She left for the sand village shortly after you left to go after Naruto-kun and Kakashi. She'll be back in two days."

"I don't have _two days_! I need her NOW."

"I'm sorry, there isn't anything I can do Sasuke-kun, you'll just have to –"

"Don't you dare say I'll have to wait! Don't even go there! Naruto is dying! Do you hear me? DYING. Waiting is not an option!"

"He's dying?"

"Yes, I believe I made that fact fairly clear."

"I thought Sakura was with you?"

"She is. This is something that she has never seen before and we have no idea what to do. Kakashi has had his leg sliced open, and Naruto has been stabbed through the chest. Neither of their wounds are closing, even with Kyuubi's powers. They're both suffering blood loss, and Naruto is running an extreme fever. We need Lady Hokage or we'll bringing Naruto home for his wake and Kakashi may have to become best friends with a cane."

"Lady Tsunade always leaves an emergency case of poisons and antidotes for situations like this, if we can get it to Naruto we can at least bring him back here where we can keep him stable until she returns."

"Okay and Captain Yamato went to see the Nara's."

"They're bound to have information! If they don't have a complete solution, they'll at least have something extremely useful."

"Exactly what we were thinking"

"Alright, well let's get going, if we're going to do this we're going to have to get there as fast as humanly possible"

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><p><strong>AN:** Well, it's taken me about a day and a half to write this chapter because silly me had a huge brain fart, and the creativeness just refused to flow. So I'm sorry if this wasn't the update you were all waiting/hoping for, but it's better than nothing yes? On the down side, in that day and a half, I have broken a few toes and my foot. On the upside, have all the new down time from said injury will definitely give time for the creative juices to get flowing properly!

_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_* **THIS JUST IN** *_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_

And in a recent news update, reviews monsters have been found to be rampaging wildly around the city in search and hunger for more reviews! Authorities have asked citizens for their assistance, begging them for reviews to keep these huge review-hungry monstrosities at bay! Please, do not hold back and put all reviews possible out there to feed the monsters!

-Sephoriya


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N:** Well here we are again at that time where another chapter update is due! Okay... I know...it took me really long again and I really do apologize! The field hockey season has been going full swing and our team ended third in the city after the tournament, so we've all been rather occupied. Add all that to university registration and homework, and you get one busy little me with a lack of sleep and no free writing time! So, lately I have the feeling that this is becoming somewhat dragged along and that I would like to wrap this section up and start something new within the chapters, so if anyone has any particular ideas about where they'd like to see this go, please send me a message okay? As a present to try and make up for my painfully pathetic updating skills, I'm going to try and make a big push and attempt going for a 6000+ word chapter for you guys! (I will fully admit that this is also partially because I would like to become a beta reader)

**Rentamiya: ** I know it really makes no sense that she's not there, but I didn't want things to be overly simple, and I couldn't think of something for Tsunade to say in that particular situation... So instead of causing smoke to spontaneously generate in the messed up alternative reality known as my brain, I found a convenient way to eliminate her from the situation Hope you don't mind too much!

**KageKitsune13:** Bwhahaha thank you finally! Unfortunately I'm highly aware of the spelling and sentence errors . Turns out that Word really doesn't like Japanese turned English...Don't worry, I DEFINITELY have things planned *winks with one eyebrow raised and gives you the familiar over the glasses look*

**P.S.:** And just because things seem to be ironic this way, I happen to be listening to Savior by Skillet at the moment and I realized that the lyrics fit with this chapter rather well, almost like a theme song. Cause everything seems to be crashing and breaking and Sasuke is going to be Naruto's savior. Or maybe that's just me? It's probably just me :P Anywho...

**Disclaimer:** If I owned the Naruto characters there would be a lot of couples that would've happened a long time ago! However, I leave their creation and their plot up to their wonderful creator Masashi Kishimoto!

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><p>It had felt like floating. There was a strong and powerful warmth holding up his body as the world passed him by, and there was a soft and yet loud rhythmic pounding beside his ear. Rustling and shrill chirping songs were accompanied by a continuous and beautiful green blurred background. The wind tossed his hair back from his face, while another warm breeze rose and fell upon it. Had Kami-sama come for him? This warm comfort while floating through the air as a lush green world passed by in a blur, could it be the final passage? But, the passage into the after-life was supposed to be one of warmth, and comfort, so why could he still feel the piercing wound in his chest? It was then that he noticed a familiar scent that was close to him. It was a scent that had permanently locked itself into his mind and into his heart. It was a smell that came from only one house that he had ever been to. It was a lingering scent that his brain could instantly connect to a name. Sasuke. Perhaps that would be his comfort in passing to the after-life, knowing that the man he loved was close to him. His mind easily conjured up images of the raven-haired young man with obsidian eyes that could pierce into any soul with a single glance. It was with this image in his mind's eye that Naruto passed once again into unconsciousness.<p>

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><p><strong>About an hour earlier...<strong>

They had been travelling towards the camp as fast as their feet could take them. Sasuke and Yamato were running on the brink of exhaustion from the fast-passed and repeated travel between the camp and the village. His legs felt like lead, his back felt like jelly, and his brain felt like it had been stuffed with cotton. Everything about his body screamed out the need for sleep, but everything in his mind bellowed at him to go faster. He still had no idea what Shizune was planning to do and the need to know was starting to get the better of him.

"Shizune-san, please tell me you do have a plan..."

"Yep."

"Okay, and this would be the part where you tell me what that plan is."

"I'm going to poison him."

"Come again?"

"I.m. Going. To. Use. Poison. On. Him." She annunciated every word carefully as if he had lost half his wits and couldn't understand a damn thing she was saying.

"Well I heard you the first time, what I don't get is exactly when you lost your marbles and went insane." If she could have reached over and bitch slapped him, he was sure she would have and she probably would have applied healing chakra to her hands so that his facial nerves would get screwed up while she hit him, that part she would have done just for shits and giggles.

"God you're a cocky brat. Have you ever heard of fighting fire with fire? Well, I'm going to fight poison with poison. I'm going to administer a poison to Naruto that will slow his heart down. By slowing his heart down you can decrease the amount of blood flow. By doing that you can cut the amount of blood flowing to his wound in half and on top of that prevent the spread of the poison any further. With that we'll be able to carry him back to the village with us and get him to the hospital and stabilize him until Lady Tsunade gets back. I sent Tonton to her with a message about the situation, so hopefully she'll be able to find a way to come back sooner."

"Oh...that makes sense." Now he felt like a dumb ass for not trusting Shizune's knowledge. Damnit, one blond should not be able to make him lose his composure this much. He was an Uchiha for crying out loud.

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><p>They made it to the camp where Sakura had already packed everything up in expectation to leave as soon as possible, Sasuke looked and saw his dobe lying in the same place where he had left him that afternoon. The golden rays of dusk that illuminated his hair made everything around him seem eerily peaceful. Looking around, the trees still seemed to be making a mockery of him and all of his efforts to save the blond. What he wouldn't kill for an axe or a good sized torch so that he could shut the trees up for good. But he also knew that Naruto would skewer him and have him served on a platter if he ever destroyed this forest. As Shizune started to inject the secondary poison into his system, Sasuke's mind drifted off to when he and Naruto had spent an entire afternoon together in the treetops outside the village...<p>

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><p><em>Raven colored hair flashed in and out of view underneath the greenery of Konoha forest as a young man bearing the Uchiha symbol on his back stomped his way through the trees. Anyone nearby would have heard him ranting to himself in frustration.<em>

"_Why do I have to deliver a message? Do I look like a carrier pigeon?" Sasuke had just left the village gates where he had been searching most of the morning for a particular blond knuckle-head. He had seen Kakashi earlier who had informed him that he had already seen Sakura and told her that the four of them had a mission tomorrow morning._

"_We'll meet at 8AM tomorrow in front of the village gates. Oh, and I haven't seen Naruto, mind telling him?"_

"_Why can't you tell him?"_

"_I have some...urgent business to attend to and I don't have time to look for him." The man had a lecherous look on his face as if he was about to go shack up with someone and not release them until morning. It made Sasuke wonder if anyone had told Iruka that Kakashi was on the loose and looking for him. Kakashi-sensei hunted down Iruka like Jiraya used to hunt down co-ed hot springs for women. Kami-sama help Iruka-sensei's ass should Kakashi ever get a hold of it. Sasuke shuddered a bit at the thought of his teachers shacking up together, but hey, who was he to judge since that's exactly what he'd like to be doing with a certain blue-eyed shinobi right about now. _

"_Uh... right. I'll let him know."_

_After his brief image-inducing conversation with Kakashi, Sasuke had spent most of the morning searching throughout the village for the dobe. He hadn't been at any of his usual haunts and now Sasuke was getting ready to strangle him. There were much better things he could be doing with his time than searching for a knuckle-head. In fact he could be dragging said knuckle-head back to bed with him and taking him right then and there just to get rid of the massive hard-on that his earlier train of thought had induced. Now he had to do something to get rid of the problem down under._

"_Come on, think of something... Think of Kakashi and Iruka." It wasn't the worst mental image he'd ever had. "Think of Sakura and Ino together" Okay, he had to admit, as much as the pink haired girl annoyed him, the idea of her with someone else instead of flaunting over him was more of a mental relief than anything else. "Think of Lee and Gaara both butt-naked banging on the bathroom floor!" That did it. Not only did his raging problem disappear instantly, but somehow the thought of tight green spandex, and sand didn't mix well in his head. Not that he had anything against the two men for their extremely intimate relationship with each other; he just didn't need the mental image. _

_He had sat down at the base of a tree, when he happened to look up and saw someone a few trees over sitting at the top of a large oak tree. Found him. Sasuke wasn't sure what he was doing up there, but at least he could deliver the message and get on with his day now. He jumped up into the trees and over to where Naruto was sitting at the top._

"_Hey dobe! Kakashi said to tell you that we have a mission tomorrow and that we need to be at the village gates for eight in the morning."_

"_Okay." Wow, the blond hardly ever gave anyone a one word response, in fact half the time it was impossible to get him to do so._

"_You sick or something?"_

"_What?" Damn. He must've been sick. This just wasn't normal. A light rain started to fall over the village and surround forest. The tiny droplets of water spring boarded off of the leaves and then beaded where they landed._

"_You should come down with me, you'll get soaked if you stay up here."_

"_No thanks Sasuke, I think I'll stay. I little water won't kill me ya know?"_

"_Is there a reason you're up here?"_

"_Most people don't come looking for you up here and all of the problems seem to disappear when you're up high." _

_Now it all made sense. That was why no one could find him in the village; he was trying to avoid it. Someone had been giving him a hard time about Kyuubi again and instead of lashing out or going into his apartment to shut them out, he had come up here to get away from their sneering looks and chiding voices. He grabbed the blond by the waist and shoulders and pulled him backwards down to the thicker branches underneath the leaves._

"_Sasuke what the-?" Naruto's sentence was cut off mid-breath as the raven haired man kissed him. It wasn't a kiss that said that Sasuke wanted him right there and now. It was a kiss filled with passion, love, sympathy and understanding. It warmed Naruto from the inside out._

"_I figured if we're going to stay up here where it's quiet, we mine as well at least let the leaves keep us dry." The trees of Konoha forest had always grown exceptionally well with plenty of strong and healthy foliage. Sasuke had known that they would act as an umbrella for them against the warm summer rain._

"_You don't have to stay up here with me teme."_

"_Dobe. You shouldn't listen to what they say. You're better than they are anyway and they have no clue what they're talking about. You've already saved this village more times than it deserved for the way it's treated you and for that they should be grateful. The ones who aren't are full of crap and don't even deserve the time of day. Not that I mind coming up here and viewing the scenery, but just remember that when you want to shut them away you can always come to me." _

"_Thank you Sasuke."_

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><p>Sasuke's mind remembered that afternoon well. He had confessed to Naruto not too long before, and he had known that part of the blond shinobi still believed that he hadn't been serious. That afternoon Naruto had looked like someone had run him over and stuck kunai into him. It had been the first time that he had shown such tenderness that he himself hadn't been quite sure was in him, and because of that, Naruto had finally taken him seriously and returned the feelings shown to him. They had spent the rest of that afternoon in the arms of one another waiting out the rain. There had been passionate kissing that spoke volumes more than words could have, and they had stayed that way until dusk. Later it had been the first night that the blond man had agreed to come home with him. Nothing physical had happened, but emotionally, they both knew that an intense and unbreakable bond had been formed.<p>

"You ready to leave Sasuke?" He heard the pink haired girl and could tell that she was just as tired as the rest of them. Naruto was important to everyone on the team and it was wearing them all down.

"Yeah, how are we transporting Naruto?"

"Well, the safest way would probably be to have somebody carry him so that the motion of travelling will have a lot less impact thanks to the cushioning of another body." Shizune hadn't even been with them for more than a few hours and she sounded like she hadn't slept in months. The idea of having to poison the young shinobi had really gotten to her nerves. If even one millilitre had been calculated wrong it would kill him. Lady Tsunade had obviously forgotten to mention that it was times like these that no amount of training could prepare you for when she was teaching Shizune to be a medic nin.

"Okay, makes sense. I'll carry Naruto so that Captain Yamato can help Kakashi and then you and Sakura can be free if anything comes up. It'll be faster that way if we don't burden the two of you."

"Sounds good but are you sure you don't want a food pill before you leave? Just for a little extra energy?" Sakura was holding out a small pouch to him that he knew contained the horrible tasting food pills. Shaking his head in refusal since he had nothing polite to say about their flavour, he picked up his dobe so that the blond was cradled safely in his arms and took off into the trees towards home. He knew that right now Naruto was depending on that unbreakable bond, and he wasn't about to leave him alone now.

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><p>He still felt as though he was floating, but less like he was passing over. The pain in his chest still burned through him, but now it seemed as though even his heart was working hard just to keep its rhythm. He still felt the warm strength that was holding him up when he couldn't even support himself, and he still heard the strong drumming beside his ear. Although this time he was awake enough to realize that it was his teme. Sasuke had come back for him like he promised and now they were going home. He felt a rumbling in the raven-haired boy's chest and realized that he was talking. He tried to focus long enough to understand what Sasuke was saying.<p>

"...home...we're home dobe." He hadn't caught the whole sentence but he knew that he'd been insulted and that he was finally home. A wave of relief washed over him and he fell back to sleep in Sasuke's arms as they entered the village gates.

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><p>Iruka had been pacing in front of the village gates for the past half hour...First he had heard that Hokage-sama was coming back to the village unexpectedly, and then he had heard that it was so she could heal Kakashi and Naruto. He had heard that both of the nins had serious injuries. The silver haired ninja may never walk again and be retired early, while his student may not survive the night. Ever since the news spread, he had been pacing in front of the village gates, waiting for the return of the Hokage, his student, and his lover. No, he corrected himself. Not his lover...his fellow comrade in arms. He would never admit to the perverted sharingan user that he considered him a lover. That would just encourage his actions. That would just encourage the ass-grabbing, the groping, the deep kissing, the cock-grabbing, the stripping of clothes, the getting hot and sweaty in...NO! Iruka abruptly halted his thoughts from going any further with his imagination. Unfortunately it was already too late seeing as he was sporting a massive hard on.<p>

Trying to ignore the increasing tightness of his clothing, Iruka began to pace even faster in front of the village gates. If Kakashi could no longer walk would that prevent the man from having sex as well? _Wait! What kind of perverted thoughts are you having here?_ Iruka's mind was suddenly shouting at him to stop having perverted thoughts or else he would have to find some overly convenient place to relieve himself and fast.

Genma and Kotetsu were staring at the chuunin as he paced back and forth while worrying himself sick. They swore they could actually see him wearing a trench into the ground where he was pacing. At the same time a blush became obvious on his face as the pacing temporarily came to a halt. Then Genma commented when it appeared as though Iruka shook his head to clear his thoughts. "You'd swear he was thinking about sex and worrying at the same time, ne?" Kotetsu simply nodded his agreement as they watched their friend resume his pacing. It was when Iruka had been pacing at such a furious speed that there was practically smoke behind his heels that the Hokage came through the gates with a commanding presence.

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><p>After barking out commands and having more than a dozen shinobi scurrying under her command within a minute, another group was seen coming into the village. There were two female nins, and four male. A raven-haired man carried a blond one, while the brunette aided the silver haired one. As a group, they made quite the sight. The blond was completely shirtless with an abdomen covered in bandages soaked with blood, and the dark haired one holding him looked exhausted but also emanated that he would kill anyone who got in his way. The brunette looked relieved to be back, while the masked nin he was aiding looked as though he wouldn't walk another step. His leg had been wrapped in bandages, and the travelling had obviously worn him out. The pink haired girl looked tired, but also on the brink of crying, while the other female had an air of exhaustion, confidence, and slight panic.<p>

"Kakashi-san!" Iruka ran over to the silver haired nin the instant he came into view from the gates.

"Running up to me like that my little dolphin makes me think you were actually worried about me." Kakashi raised one silvery eyebrow and gave the younger man a lecherous and yet tired look. Iruka instantly blushed.

"O-o-of c-course n-not." The man stuttered horribly has he tried to maintain his composure. Swallowing he started again "I came over to scold you about getting injured and letting Naruto injure himself as well" At the mention of the blond, the silver haired man winced as if someone had poked him with something extremely sharp and uncomfortable. Iruka instantly felt like a jerk for saying it. He had meant it in a light joking tone, but he knew that given the situation, Kakashi hadn't taken it that way. He also knew that Kakashi had done everything he could to protect the youth and probably blamed himself for failing.

"Kakashi-san, I'll help you get over to the hospital so that Yamato-san can catch up on his rest" He said while taking Yamato's place. Kakashi nodded and smiled, being back with Iruka made a lot of his pain both mentally and physically disappear. He didn't miss the affection in the offer, and noted to himself to pay the brunette back later.

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><p>She had been sitting in her office for about an hour pouring over stacks of medical books and related information, but was having an extremely difficult time focusing. While Kakashi's limb was not of a fatal concern, it still needed to be stabilized, and she had been giving constant orders for the medical staff to do so along with orders for Naruto. But besides the orders, and the piles of medical info to go through there was another problem in her office. And that problem was a particular brunette chuunin that was pacing like a mother worried sick. Iruka would ask questions every few minutes about how the two were doing, and had she found a solution yet? Would Kakashi walk again? Would Naruto live? How long would the surgeries take? Did she know who had attacked them? She could feel the vein popping in her forehead and was ready to throw the man out the window.<p>

"Iruka..." Tsunade tried to remain calm and patient with him

"Oh did you find something?"

"No, but Iruka I need you to-"

"Why not? There has to be SOMETHING in all of those darned books? Right? I mean what good are they if they can't solve this problem? Do you at least know if Kakashi will walk? What about Naruto? Will they be out of the hospital soon? I mean-"

"IRUKA!" That was it. She snapped. The man let out a small "eep" at the sound of his name. "Stop pacing around my office like a worried mother! Stop asking so many damned questions! And get the hell out of my office before I THROW YOU OUT! NOW!"

The scarred chuunin only blinked in shock and when she suddenly stood up from her desk he bolted out of the room instantly. _Finally...some peace and quiet in this office. Now what the hell am I going to do...?_

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><p><em><strong>Two days later...<strong>_

Iruka stood at the entrance to the Konoha hospital. He had received word that Kakashi was being released from the hospital but would still need help for a couple of days. The brunette had been relieved to hear that the sharingan user was being released and had stopped by to offer Kakashi a place to stay until he was fully healed. He knew that that alone was probably inviting a load of sexual problems, but he also wanted to make sure that the jounin returned to full health. He had also been told that Naruto was still not out of the woods so to speak and that they would be keeping him under close watch, therefore he could not have visitors. As much as this worried Iruka, he knew that since Lady Tsunade's cure had worked on Kakashi, it would work for the blond as well.

Kakashi walked out of the hospital's front doors with the aid of a nurse. He was trying to ignore the pain that still lingered in his leg when he laid eyes on a very good distraction indeed. There stood Iruka in all his glory with the afternoon sun accenting the features of his body. It was obviously the brunette's day off because he was wearing only black pants and a white t-shirt. Where the sunlight hit the shirt one could clearly see the outline of the man's body. If only he had full use of both his legs he would have jumped the younger man right then and there despite the nurse's presence. And with those thoughts he now had a hard on. _Hope the nurse doesn't look down and notice that one...Now if Iruka notices...well that's another story. _

"Hello Iruka, visiting someone?"He was glad that his voice had come out calm and didn't give away the problem down below.

"No, came to pick you up actually."

Surely he was dreaming. His Iruka coming to pick him up? Iruka displaying affection? Perhaps all of his ass-grabbing and groping had actually paid off. "Oh?"

"Well, I had heard that you're going to need help for the next few days until you're functioning normally, so I figured you mine as well come stay with me."

"What makes you think I'll need help?" As much as he appreciated the offer and the affection that came with it, he hated that others knew he would need help because he hated appearing weak and vulnerable in front of anybody.

"Well before you start with the 'I don't want to appear weak' thoughts, allow me to point out a few things _sensei_. You're using a nurse as a crutch, you look pale as hell, and don't worry, it's only myself and a few medical staff who know. So are you coming with me or are you really going to turn me down now?"

"Ah, right. Thank you Iruka." Damn, the man knew him well. Some part of him was still shocked to know that Iruka actually paid attention to his habits, and the other part of him was turned on.

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><p>They arrived at Iruka's apartment a short while later. It was a decent size with comfortable looking furniture. There was a desk and a lamp placed along one wall where Kakashi could easily picture Iruka sitting up late at night grading papers and such from the academy. But he hadn't realized that walking from the hospital to this cozy apartment would make him feel so drained, and so when Iruka laid him on the bed, he felt relief as the pressure was alleviated from his leg. It was only then that he realized that this was the brunette's bedroom.<p>

"Iruka, where will you sleep if I'm taking your bed?"

"I'll sleep on the couch obviously. I've fallen asleep there enough times before to know that it's comfortable." The man then proceeded to change his shirt, and Kakashi couldn't help but stare to the point of nearly drooling as the chuunin was suddenly half naked in front of him. Pulling another shirt over his head, Iruka walked over beside the bed.

"Are you hungry at all Kakashi-san?"

"Yes..."

"I'll go get you something to eat then" said Iruka smiling.

"It's already here."

"What do you- oof!" Iruka felt himself pulled to the bed by the silver haired jounin.

"What I want to eat is right in front of me." Kakashi said while raising one thin eyebrow.

"I'm serious Kakashi, you should get some rest."

"I will...later." And before Iruka could protest the man leaned in and took his lips. He knew he should protest, but damn the man had a way with his mouth and it had been so long since he had been underneath him like this, so he gave up resisting and opened his mouth further to allow the other man's tongue entrance.

* * *

><p>Kakashi not missing Iruka's invitation immediately deepened the kiss as his tongue explored every inch of the brunette's mouth. However, even shinobi had a need for oxygen and they broke the lip lock. Kakashi took the temporary oxygen break as an opportunity to strip both of them of their clothes, and then returned to the chuunin's inviting lips. From there he continued to work his way down Iruka's neck, slowly sucking on the flesh that connected to his shoulder. As he continued his descent on the man's chest, he took the time to lather each nipple with his tongue.<p>

"Mmm...Kakashi..." Taking that as a sign of approval, Kakashi started working his tongue into the younger man's navel. Iruka continued to moan as his tongue worked over the flesh, and the deep sounds were like music to the jounin's ears. Needing to hear more he licked the head of Iruka's now stiff penis. Iruka clenched the silver hair of the man pleasuring him and moaned all the more as the wet organ bathed his overheated member. When Kakashi deep throated him, Iruka almost came in an instant. The silver-haired man easily picked up rhythm and speed, while he used his hands to massage the tanned man's ball sack. Before long Iruka's hips were thrusting deeper into Kakashi's mouth. "Ah! Ka-ka...don't stop!" He couldn't even get out the man's name but he knew he wanted him to continue.

When Kakashi removed his mouth from Iruka's cock, the chuunin let out a small whimper but then gasped in the same breath as the man's tongue started to wickedly lavish his hole. When he was thoroughly satisfied that the hole was wet enough, he slid in a finger and returned to the still raging cock in front of him. After a few moments of stroking both his hole and his member, Kakashi looked up to see Iruka's face suffused with redness as he bit his lip in pleasure. He then slid in a second finger and continued his ministrations.

Suddenly he was on his back with Iruka straddling him. "You're fingers...they aren't enough. I need you inside me Kakashi." Iruka slowly slid himself over Kakashi's cock, and the jounin closed his eyes in pleasure as he felt his member being wrapped in a familiar and hot tightness. "But we don't want to over work that leg of yours" He lifted his body up so that only the head of the other man's cock remained inside of him. "So you just relax, and let me do all the work to pleasure you." And with that he impaled himself onto Kakashi's penis.

Kakashi moaned loudly as Iruka continued to bring himself down on his member. He could feel the inner walls and muscles of Iruka's body clenching him and it made the experience all the better. He began to thrust his hips up to Iruka so as to change his angle and repeatedly hit the man's g-spot, knowing that as he did so the brunette would be seeing stars. He sat up so that Iruka continued to straddle him, and he pulled the man into his arms so that they were chest to chest, flesh on flesh, heat against heat. "Ka...mmm...ohhh...Ka-Kakashi" Iruka moaned into his ear as he continued to piston himself against Kakashi.

"I've...ah...missed you too Iruka" Kakashi continued to thrust into him hitting his spot as he pulled him in for a full on kiss. And it was as their tongues danced against one another that Iruka came, exploding his seed across their chests. As he did so, he squeezed Kakashi's member as he clenched, causing the silver-haired nin to come and pour everything into the brunette.

They both continued to thrust until there was nothing left, and without separating they laid back down onto the pillows of the bed. Their legs were a tangled mess, and Kakashi kissed Iruka softly as they basked in the afterglow that they were both feeling.

"Kakashi..."

"Mmm...?"

"Don't leave."

Taken aback, Kakashi replied "Well I'm not one to generally have sex and walk away minutes later. Not to mention I'm not exactly walking very well on my own at the moment."

"That's not what I meant."

"Iruka?"

"I mean, even once you're fully capable of taking care of yourself, stay with me."

"Do you have a fever? Are you stressed out? Maybe we shouldn't have done it?"

"I'm serious" He said lightly punching the other man's chest, and then opening his hand to continue feeling the firm flesh underneath his palm. "Even with all your perverted ways, I've come to realize that I love you Hatake Kakashi. I can't deny it. I love you."

Kakashi leaned in closely and gently pulled the other man's face towards him and kissed him deeply. And it was once again the need for oxygen that broke the kiss.

"So does that mean you'll stay?" Iruka asked deploring him with his eyes. He looked hopeful, and fearful, and as if he had walked out onto a cliff and was ready to jump so long as Kakashi would tell him yes.

Pulling the chuunin closer to him and taking his lips once again, Kakashi stopped and whispered into his ears "As you wish my little dolphin. I'm all yours." And with those words they tried to melt their bodies into one as they continued for an intimate round two.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Alrighty, well, I finally did it and wrote a lemon! Well I must admit that I was a bit nervous about writing a lemon due to my inexperience with writing them I am a bit worried that I have let you, the fantastic readers, down. *Bows on the floor * So please, please, please, PLEASE, write reviews! I'll be gone for two months, but all of your reviews will come through to my email on my cell, so I promise to read them and treasure every piece of advice that you can give! I know I'm a horrible updater, but hopefully this twelve page long chapter will make up for my updating flaws! And I do apologize, but this might be a bit of a longer author's note because I'm currently at 5,762 words and I really need six thousand! And I know, a lot of you are rolling your eyes at me saying "Well silly Sephoriya, why don't you just write a longer story if you really need so many words to become a beta reader?"

Answer: I really couldn't think of a better way to write this chapter. Every time I tried to change it to make it a longer chapter, I felt as though something was wrong and it just didn't seem to work, so therefore I always ended up going back to where I had started with the shorter version of the paragraphs.

As some of you may have noticed, my dear friend **KageKitsune13 **has kindly read through the story for me and gave me some valuable input and insight for the chapters. When talking with Kage later, some valuable questions were brought to my attention. Like for instance, what time period of Naruto am I writing in? So here are some answers:

**Yes**, I have taken a bit of an author's spin on Kyuubi. I know he is supposed to be unlimited power, but that didn't really work for me. :P So I felt the need to make Kyuubi extremely powerful yes, but unlimited no. I didn't want Kyuubi to dominate as the main savior of Naruto otherwise my plot would have never worked ne? :D

**Both** Naruto and Sasuke are jounins now. So the time period doesn't actually exist within the Naruto series (sorry Kishimoto-sama but I needed my own time period on this one and you just haven't invented it with your brilliant imagination yet! Keep going! )

But, I am now officially over six thousand words! *wipes brow* Phew! Never thought I would make it! Thank you all so much for your support and remember to help me feed the review monster by adding your opinions as well! (6,084 words! But who's counting right?)

**~Sephoriya**


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